Dental plaque—the accumulation of bacteria and food debris—does not require aggressive brushing to be removed; it is easily brushed away with gentle strokes. Commonly an individual will approach plaque like frost on a car window: the gums and teeth are attacked while the plaque is forcefully scraped away. This dental assault leads to increased temperature sensitivity, tooth pits along the gum line, and a disrupted smile because of cosmetic recession of the gum; together these changes are referred to as noncarious cervical lesions (NCCLs).
NCCLs were first observed in the 16th century shortly after the first toothbrushes. Five-hundred years later and now in the era of modern dentistry, NCCLs remain a common complaint of patients and a challenging foe for the dentist. Further, over the past century, the toothbrush has hardly changed; this can most easily be recognized with the lack of innovation for the handle of the toothbrush. A patient with a modern toothbrush continues to brush aggressively because they fail to address a critical cause of NCCLs, which is excessive force on the gums caused by the hand holding the toothbrush.
Currently, many users brush their teeth by applying a lot of pressure. This is due to the design and size of the toothbrush, as well as the desire to remove plaque from one's teeth. Contemporary toothbrushes accommodate a user's entire hand, and therefore encourage a power grip. For example, the surface area and length of contemporary toothbrush handles provide more than adequate space for an entire hand to grip the handle. Grasping the toothbrush with the entire hand increases the amount of force a user can exert on the toothbrush, which in turn leads to an increased pressure applied on the user's teeth and gums. As a result, the applied pressure may wear on the user's gums, causing NCCLs. Therefore, the gums may start to recede, and experience or undesirable symptoms.
Only two categories of contemporary toothbrush designs incorporate handles that do not encourage a power grip, or a grip by the user's entire hand: travel toothbrushes and incarceration toothbrushes. Contemporary travel toothbrushes typically feature an upper half with a brush head, neck, and connection region, and a removable lower half that serves the two purposes. First, the lower half can be used as a cover sleeve for the upper half, encasing the brush head and neck during travel or storage. Second, the lower half may be used as a grip extension that connects to the connection region of the upper half. When connected, the surface area and length of the travel toothbrush provide more than adequate space for an entire hand to grip the handle, and therefore results in the deficiencies described above. Without the lower half, the upper half of the common travel toothbrush has insufficient surface area for a user to grasp and control the brush with enough force to effectively clean teeth.
Incarceration toothbrushes also have insufficient surface area for a user to grasp and control the brush with enough force to effectively clean teeth. These toothbrushes usually feature a handle that cannot be converted into a sharp weapon. For example, the handle may be a thin, circular area that provides enough surface area for grip by a user's index finger and thumb. As with the upper half of a travel toothbrush, the incarceration toothbrush is difficult to control and apply enough pressure to effectively clean teeth.
As can be seen, there is a need for a toothbrush that allows a user to apply sufficient pressure to clean teeth, but limits and/or reduces the amount of pressure to reduce or prevent damage to the user's gums.